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Sunday, October 02, 2005

New Citizens Group Patrols Border

Stepping up to secure our southern border with Mexico, something the Border Patrol seems incapable of doing and what the federal government seems unwilling to enforce, a third group calling themselves The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps began civilian patrols in an effort to thwart illegal border crossings. (Union Tribune: Volunteers begin border watch). The group's purpose is to monitor the southern border and notify US Border Patrol when it spots illegal crossings.

When the federal government fails to do its job, it falls on average citizens to step up and fill that void. That is precisely what we are seeing along the Mexican border. The month long vigil launched yesterday is intended to send a strong signal to Washington that the US Border Patrol is failing in its mission to safeguard our southern border. It is most timely, given recent reports that show illegal immigrants now far outnumber legal immigrants entering the US.

Much of the border across Texas is unprotected and sparsely patrolled. The most difficult part of the crossing from Mexico into Texas in many spots is a brief wade across the Rio Grande. Despite it's impressive sounding name, the Rio Grande is little more than a creek in many spots. Yet border patrols along that stretch vary from sparse to non-existent.

Not all of the problems lie with the Border Patrol, however. Businesses and individuals who hire these illegal gate crashers are a major part of the problem. They do it to find a cheap source of labor, and as a result they encourage more illegal migration into the US.

US policy that grants immediate US citizenship to any child born on US soil - even if the mother is an illegal immigrant - is also part of the problem. That's a law that must be changed immediately. Pregnant women in Mexico seek to enter the US illegally to have their child knowing that the child will be a US citizen without question.

The Bush Administration's policies towards illegal immigrants - especially those of Hispanic descent - is also troubling. Recognizing a huge voting block in the Spanish speaking communities, politicians are loath to either approve legislation to address the problem or enforce existing legislation out of fear of losing Hispanic votes.

So it falls on the backs of average citizens like Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to do the job our federal government is failing to do. Our southern border does need to be secured. I applaud the efforts of the Minutemen and support their initiatives to curb the tide of illegal immigration into the US. But it can't stop there. We must pressure congress and the President to enforce existing laws that they are so far ignoring. We must press them to repeal the automatic citizenship clause for children of non-citizens born on US soil. We must press them to take additional steps to secure the southern border. That is, after all, their job and right now they are not doing it.

I hope you're not suggesting that what essentially constitutes slave labor is justifiable because it's good for the economy! This is the old "we need illegal immigrants because nobody else wants to do these jobs" hogwash. The bottom line is that people who hire illegal immigrants are breaking the law. There is no justification for skirting the law simply because the illegal alien will work for less than the law demands.